Minimum consumption. Maximum freedom.

Avoid, prevent or reverse most western medical conditions through simple eating

“Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat 2000 of something”

Mitch Hedberg

What is the optimum diet for humans? A diet that unequivocally enhances our health and makes us disease resistant?

Unfortunately not the one most of us are eating!

The science is overwhelming when it comes to the effect that food has on our body and the impact that food has on promoting or helping us to resist diseases like cancer (as an example). The right diet can help us to avoid most of the top killers that too many of our friends and family are likely to suffer from long before time (see here and here).

Thanks to advertising dollars and sinister financial contributions from political lobbyists we are a horribly confused society when it comes to what to eat to be and remain healthy. This shouldn’t be the case though and if you tap into your intuition your innate wisdom will guide you to the best food for you to eat. The Gorilla (our closest biological relative) doesn’t have to take a class to figure out what to eat and what to avoid and neither do we. Start by considering what we would have eaten in a more natural environment in a time when humans lived happily without food factories or factory farms. Perhaps also consider what most of the rest of the non-western world eats everyday to ensure that their rates of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, MS, cancer and many other common western causes of death are entirely uncommon or in some cases unknown to them.

Eat slowly and savour the taste of real food. At first your palate will struggle since all we eat in the west is sugar, fat, and mountains of salt. Over time you will really come to appreciate the delicate, subtle and beautiful flavours of plants, herbs and spices.

Stop eating when your hunger is gone. This occurs long before you are full (each meal should be 1/3 water, 1/3 plants, 1/3 air e.g. empty stomach).

Eating this way is simple. It is healthful. It is good for the environment. It is good for the species that we share this place with. It is economical in terms of resource and land use and in terms of affordability for your family. We have dramatically cut our food bill since adopting this way of eating.

If you are enthused, but confused don’t be. There couldn’t be a simpler way of eating. A good place to get started on a plant strong diet and to nab a few new recipes is healthy herbivore. There isn’t much else to say. It really is a simple tonic for better health.

7 thoughts on “Avoid, prevent or reverse most western medical conditions through simple eating”

I’ve become convinced (over many years, this was a very slow process for a die-hard carnivore) that you’re exactly right – healthy herbivore is the way to go.

One thing I’ve been nervous about – it seems like every vegan I know is pale with bags under their eyes, and it seems like they don’t eat the proper amounts of protein – I know it’s not just the amount, but the types – this is probably the biggest reason I haven’t made the plunge completely.

Would you say this is a relevant worry, or are there precautions I can take to avoid veggie-only malnutrition?

Read ‘Whole’by T. Colin Campbell. It outlines how we have been dupted by the single nutrient-single action school of nutrition.
Second have a poke around the nutritionfacts.org site. I really like it because it makes good science very accessible.

There are a few myths around things like getting enough calcium, protein or the B12 epidemic in vegans.

Protein – your mothers milk was only 1-3% protein and it fully supported you in the time that you were laying down THE most tissue growth in your life. There aren’t many people that are protein deficient. Check your local hospital and see if they have a protein deficiency ward. We have come to believe that we need very high levels of animal protein to thrive. This is very just a case of very good marketing on the part of industry.

Calcium – comes from the soil into plants which is how cows get it. Unfortunately the calcium from cows also arrives with a protein called casein which is very bad for human health. Completely outweighs any benefits of drinking milk in my opinion.

As to tiredness and bags under the eyes. I think there are quite a few friends of the animals that go vegan. Unfortunately they eat potato chips, pasta and bread. You can get just as unhealthy eating foods like this that are not nutritious. I’d also say that no diet can put back in what lack of sleep is taking away. We are a chronically fatigued society that needs more naps.

Last point – I advocate plant strong. That means 80%+ fruit and vegetables. Most of the time we are closer to 100%, but if you feel like the occasional un-plant go for it. Life is for living.

Look at every society and you will find a starch that was the core of their diet (potatoes, corn, barley, rice). One of the most interesting things was research into Roman gladiators who preferred barley to meat. Search ‘barley gladiators’. I read one really interesting biased piece that concluded because they ate barley instead of meat gladiators must have been fat. Fat being good because you could take a sword without it being able to penetrate vital organs, but if you scan paintings of gladiators there aren’t many fatties…

Wow, this is inspiring stuff. I’ve been a vegan for a while now, yet I still eat potatoes, bread and cereals sometimes to a much greater degree than plants. I’ll have to look into cutting down on them too.

It’s true that most of the food on the market is absolutely disgusting. It’s sugar and fat filled crap, and supermarkets always present such food in the most enticing places and packaged in the best colors. I have a young nephew and he refuses to eat even fruit because biscuits, crisps and Oreos present such a more exciting eating experience to him.

People who work to produce such foods are immoral, IMO, since the. They say it’s buyer’s choice, but if they didn’t exist then my little nephew would be healthier.